The ringing of his alarm clock caused his eyes to open slowly and for his arm to instantly throw the clock across the floor. He groaned and slowly sat up, placing his face in his hands as he heard the birds tweeting outside his window.

He chuckled softly and peered to see them and smiled. At the very least, the day from here it looked beautiful. Sure, when he stepped out, he was met with disgusted glances and heard whispers that his name had been mentioned more times than he could count, but from his bedroom, he saw a beautiful world.

He smiled momentarily before slowly getting off the bed and heading to his closet. he picked out some clothes his friends had bought him and cringed slightly. Black clothes weren't his style, but Viper and Spirit had said he needed to fit in if he wanted to stay friends with them.

So here he was, changing into a shirt with cut-off sleeves and pants that were a little too tight for him. He would surely get a rash one day, but at least he had friends now. For a long time, it was just him alone, but now he had two friends and was even in a band.

He grabbed his jacket from his chair and quickly ran down the stairs. He heard his momma getting up as he reached the front door. He paused for a millisecond before swiftly rushing out.

He reached into his pocket, pulled out his wand, poofed his board into his hand, and jumped on. It wasn't like he hated his mom. It was just over the years that it felt like she was growing clingy. It was like the more he tried to figure himself out, the more angry she grew.

He remembered her screaming her head off when he first got his job earlier this year and how she started to sob. He only stood there watching because if he tried to talk or comfort her, she started screaming bloody murder. It felt like she wanted him to be a child forever.

He chuckled softly and shook his head. Why in Fairyworld would his momma want him to stay a whiny child? It made no sense to him. His eyes drifted to the street as he watched some cars fly by.

He wasn't even allowed to drive his dad's old car, even though it was supposed to be his when he turned sixteen. It didn't even matter since he wasn't allowed in driver's class. Another rule from his dear momma, who seemed to want to make his life torture.

"HEY CLUTSY COSMA, CATCH"

His eyebrows shot up in surprise, and before he could react, something struck the back of his head. He tumbled to the concrete as his skateboard flew out from under him. Groaning in pain, he rubbed his head and winced.

Opening his eyes, he watched a car speed off into the distance. Squinting, he recognized the blurry outline of Luther's car. He rolled his eyes, rubbed his head, and looked around to see what had hit him. A football lay beside him, and he grumbled in annoyance.

"Yeah, of course," he breathed out and shook his head.

He dusted himself off and laughed as he reached for his skateboard and steadied it.

It's not like he lost anything, unlike Luther, whose football would remain on the sidewalk. He honestly didn't even care about the constant bullying from his peers. He had too many other things to worry about than what fairies thought of him.

Well, one fairy he did worry about, but she didn't count. Well, she did in a lot of ways, but she couldn't be lumped in with them.

His thoughts raced to yesterday afternoon, and a smile plastered on his face. One that not even the likes of Luther could make disappear.

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"Hmm, well, it seems that our schedules are rather conflicting," she said softly as she leaned her head on her palms.

He rubbed his neck awkwardly as he nodded. "Yeah, I'm sorry, uh." he licked his lips as he gulped softly. "And I need to leave in thirty minutes if I want to make it to work."

She hummed softly and tapped her forehead with her pencil. He felt so unbelievably awkward watching her and being face to face. Sure, he'd been keeping an eye out for her, but the last time they were face to face was when he dumped food all over. He cringed at the memory.

"Perhaps we could start the tutoring during our lunch?" she said, and his eyes widened.

"What about your friends? Oh, and your boyfriend?" he wanted to make a gagging noise, but he doubted she'd find it as funny as he did.

"What about them?" she raised a brow, and he slowly sank into the seat beside her. "They're not the ones tutoring you, and I'd rather you pass and for me to get my letter than be concerned over lunch seating arrangements."

She then hummed thoughtfully, her gaze wandering momentarily before returning to him. "Unless you'd rather be with your friends at lunch, then perhaps we'd have to find a certain day or—"

"No, no, it's fine," he quickly interjected, sinking deeper into the seat beside her. "Lunch works for me."

She smiled slightly, and though it lasted only an instant, it was the most captivating smile he'd ever seen. He flushed slightly at the thought.

Then, as soon as her smile had ended, she quickly gathered her items from the table and placed them in her bag. "Well, I best let you head to work," she said, slowly starting to walk away.

As she took a step, he abruptly stood. "Thank you for doing this for me," he said, noticing her shoulders tense slightly before relaxing.

She turned to look at him and smiled once more. "Thank Mr. Dorian," she murmured, then continued walking. He clutched his jacket and nodded. He really did want to thank him for this.

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Wanda felt the insistent vibration of her phone in her pocket, and a surge of frustration made her want to smash it with her fist. She had informed her friends and Juan that she would be tutoring someone during lunch from now on, but their response had been...

Well, they hadn't shown much interest or concern at all. That is, until she was gone, it seemed.

Now, here she was in the library, her lunch beside her, with the boy she'd rather avoid. He wasn't doing anything wrong just quietly reading his books. Occasionally, she had to redirect his focus, but overall, it seemed easy. The only problem she had was the constant buzzing of messages from her friend group, distracting her from her task.

"What if I make this book talk, then it could read me the information?" His voice pulled her attention back to him, and she found him staring thoughtfully at the ceiling.

"I think if you finish the chapter, then we can get started on the practice quiz I have prepared." she sighed and tapped the page he was on.

"Wait, what? I have to do a quiz?" he asked incredulously as he opened his mouth in disbelief. It took all her might not to chuckle at the state of him. So she took in a breath and nodded.

"I figured maybe we would do a test before the reading to see what you knew, but then I thought about how you already..." She paused, the words hanging awkwardly in the air, her expression betraying a hint of regret as she realized how harsh they might sound.

"Failed?" he finished, his eyebrow quirking up in response to her hesitation.

"Well," she bit the inside of her cheek and waved her hand about.

"No, I mean, we both know, so there's no use in sugarcoating," he replied, then looked over her shoulder. "Hey, isn't that like the entire cheerleading squad?"

She felt herself tense up as she lowered her head and groaned. "You have to be ki-"

"WANDY THERE YOU ARE!" shouted Celine, which quickly got her hushed by the librarian.

"Oh my goodness, Wandy, this is who you dumped us for, a loser?" Carnelia laughed, eyeing Cosmo up and down. He didn't say anything. In fact, he didn't even react.

Wanda sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I told you all this morning that I have a tutoring thing during lunch now."

"But mi amor, why would you choose to spend time with someone else when..." Juan quickly grabbed her arm, pulled her up, and pressed her against him. "We could be together."

She watched as most of the cheerleaders swooned and fanned themselves as he winked at her. She wanted to push herself off him and tell them to leave. Instead, she kissed his cheek and smiled apologetically.

"Look, I'm sorry, babe. Like I told you last night, this is important to me," She batted her eyes and placed her hand delicately on his chest, "and we need silence."

He smiled and kissed her cheek before raising his hand and patting her head. She cringed inwardly whenever he did this, she felt like a pet.

"Yes, mi amor, you are right. We shall let you tutor this." he turned to look at Cosmo, who seemed to have returned to reading the book. "Boy," Cosmo then lifted his head and raised a brow.

"C'mon, chicas, let us go to the field, and you can watch me do my warmups!" she watched as everyone followed him, giggling. Well, almost everyone. Her eyes then met her sister, who glared at the rest of them leaving.

"Yknow, if you don't stay with him, someone might steal him from you, and you'll lose your perfect boyfriend, sweetheart," she murmured, and Cosmo scoffed so softly it seemed only she had noticed.

"Juan won't leave me just because I have to tutor someone," she managed out without snapping.

Her sister looked at her, then at Cosmo. She eyed him up and down, then looked her back in the eye. "Just a warning," she said after a while before spinning on her heel and walking out.

The library felt suffocatingly quiet, leaving Wanda at a loss for words. Should she apologize for her boyfriend and her friends' rude remarks? Could she even be held at fault for the cruel words that had been spoken?

"Your friends are kind of annoying." She snapped her head and furrowed her brow. Before she could even respond, he closed the book. "Anyways, I finished the chapter. Do you want me to start that practice quiz?" he quirked his head and raised a brow.

She bit her cheek, grabbed her bag, and roughly opened it up, pulling out the sheet she had made and placing it in front of him. He grabbed it and began to read it over.

"My friends aren't annoying," she snapped finally. He looked back up at her and chuckled. For some reason, he didn't say anything else and kept looking at the paper, gradually circling answers.

She huffed in frustration, feeling her cheeks flush with annoyance. Crossing her arms, she leaned back in the chair, tilting her head back slightly. Hopefully, it didn't get worse than this.

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Juan's hand lay on her thigh, soft and gentle, warm against her tights. Though it wasn't skin-on-skin contact, her thigh felt on fire. She couldn't do anything to stop it. The sensation was itchy and uncontrollable, his touch making her skin crawl. His hands weren't calloused, nor was he pressing hard—it just didn't feel right.

"Being with you, mi amor," he whispered. "It feels like this is the most right thing in my life." He leaned in and kissed her cheek.

He smiled and looked at her, expecting the same reaction. She looked into his eyes, violet with light pink accents—a pink he swore was hers, but she knew better. She wished she could tell him that she knew they weren't meant to be.

"I love you," she replied instead. She grabbed his hand from her thigh and gripped it tightly. He chuckled and leaned back into her, puckering his lips.

She cringed slightly but shut her eyes and leaned in, trying to pretend she was at home rather than his living room. His lips met hers, warm and insistent, pressing against her own. She forced herself to respond, her lips moving mechanically. His hand traveled to her face, the touch light but intrusive, and she squeezed her eyes shut even tighter.

The kiss felt endless, each second dragging on. All she wanted was to pull away. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he drew back and smiled at her. "I love you too, mi alma gemela," he murmured, resting his forehead on hers.

As if his declaration hadn't made her feel sick enough, his hand traveled back to her thigh. She was used to the feeling by now, so she shut her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder, looking toward the TV in front of them.

"Do you really need to tutor that weird kid?" Juan murmured, disturbing what she had hoped would be a peaceful silence.

"He's not..." She pulled away slightly before continuing, "You know I have to. Do you not even care how much that letter of recommendation means to me?" She crossed her arms, her frustration evident.

He chuckled softly and leaned in closer to her, his voice low. "Ay mi amor, we both know your dear papa could just buy your way in," he teased. His hand moved towards her waist, but she reacted swiftly, pushing it away.

"Don't you think I can do it myself" she whispered, and he instantly changed his face and became apologetic.

"Well, of course, mi alma, but there's no point when you have the money to just buy your way in," he responded, his tone casual, but it struck her like a blow. It churned her stomach, the implication sinking in heavily.

"I should go," she whispered before standing up. He quickly grasped her hand, and she hesitated, unsure what to do next.

"We were having a good time, please don't let my words ruin it," he pleaded earnestly. It sounded genuine, and when she turned to him, he met her gaze with pleading eyes. Why did she have to ruin things by being dramatic? She bit the inside of her cheek until it bled, then nodded reluctantly.

Wanda sat back down and felt as he wrapped his arms around her in an embrace that felt so tight she was already suffocating.

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"I just don't understand why you even want to focus on school so much, Cozie," mumbled Spirit, munching on another fistful of fries. Cosmo sighed and shrugged.

"Yeah, like when we become famous rockstars, none of this will matter," Viper added, grabbing his shake and gesturing dramatically with it. "No one will even care that Spirit and I were held back sophomore year. They'll just care if they can afford tickets to our shows."

"Well, it's just... Mr. Dorian said I could be a..." Cosmo paused, watching as Viper raised a brow, curiosity piqued. "Well, he thinks if I try hard enough, I could become a Godparent," he whispered, staring down at his hands.

He heard Viper groan, and he could tell Spirt was too distracted by their food to even acknowledge what he said. "Oh my goodness, you're still on that bullshit?" Cosmo winced at the harsh language, then looked up at Viper, pinching his forehead. "Cozie baby, you rock on a guitar better than some famous humans, and you want to babysit their kids?"

"Just let him try Viper. It's not like our Cozie has the brain power to actually get the grades for it," interjected Spirit before he could even respond. Viper looked as if he was thinking it over, then shrugged.

"Yeah, you're right," Viper finally agreed, making Cosmo wish he didn't have ten more minutes for his break. No one believed in him, not even his friends, and for some reason, that hurt more than the football from this morning.

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The ceiling fan span in circles that only seemed to keep her awake as she followed the blades. Today wasn't as bad as it could have been, she had finally decided, but Juan's words kept Wanda awake. Sure, her father could pay her way into the Academy, but he doesn't even approve of her being a Godparent.

If she got that recommendation and kept her grades high, she could get a scholarship, and then she could worry about it on her own. Sure, she would probably be kicked out, but she doubted that was possible. Her father put family over anything.

That's why her putting this career over them would kill him. She grabbed her face and groaned. Trust that Wanda Fairywinkle would be the first in her family to say no to her father.

'Oh, I'm sorry, Daddy, I can't be the next head of the family. I want to go watch over children who have mental problems.' she groaned at the thought, grabbed her pillow, and covered her face.

She wasn't sure why she wanted- no needed to be a godparent. It just seemed to call to her. Almost like how those green eyes called to her. She flushed and threw the pillow off her face, and sat up. She thought she was over thinking about him like that. She groaned at the thought she supposed having to be near him would now make things complicated.

It wasn't like he was outright flirting with her. He was just there watching her. Sometimes, it felt like he only ever saw her and not the rest of the world. That was such a selfish thought. So what if having someone only see her for a change felt nice? It didn't mean she liked him, and it certainly didn't mean she loved him. They didn't know one another, and sure, that's what she's been repeating to herself for the last few months, but it was true.

She owed him nothing. So what if they were soulmates and bound together for eternity? She didn't care. She laid back down and shut her eyes. She didn't care one bit.

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As he snuck into his bedroom from the window, he slowly removed his clothes and switched into his pajamas. The only thing playing in his mind was lunch. The way she held back her laugh and twirled her hair whenever she was bored.

She was perfect, beautiful, and intelligent, and he was just the guy she had to tutor. He flung himself onto his bed and turned to the wall. Watching her kiss, her boyfriend made his skin feel like it was on fire. It wasn't like he could be mad when she wasn't even his.

Sure, he was hers. He knew that the moment their eyes locked and he felt his heart burst, he would be hers for his entire life, but she wasn't his. She was that stupid, pretty boy's girl. Why would she leave him for a fry cook who wouldn't pass school?

At first, he thought being tutored by her would be like heaven, but now, it feels like torture. Having her so close but not even being close to having her. Then, when her friends came in, he knew he'd never have a chance.

It wouldn't change how he felt, however. He doubted that anything in the world could ever extinguish the love and care he had for Wanda Fairywinkle. Perhaps he just needed to show her how much he had.